Air Conditioning: Because men can't change

[Maggie Mae]

Basically, we in the US use crazy amounts of electricity because of air conditioning. Why? Because men can't be bothered to dress for the weather. I don't know why I never noticed this on my own. Either way, I thought this article was interesting. And I am an air conditioning hater, so it was relevant to my interests.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk ... ditioning/

 

Link not broken because Washington Post.

[keen23]

The office temperature is an on-going war in my office. The boss likes it to be 68 degrees in the summer (and we live in Phoenix, so that's really, really cold). I would prefer 76 degrees in the summer, and I need a sweatshirt at anything below that. I don't know that the boss doesn't dress for the weather though, because he does wear shorts and polo shirts all year round. Anything less than that would be unseemly (and way more skin than I'd be comfortable with).

[teacherjane]

It is a very cold 68 degrees at the university where I'm working this summer, and the entire day all of us in the office are freezing. One of the women who works in the same room as I do has a space heater! It's 100 degrees (+ very high humidity) outside, and we're using space heaters because guys are wearing suits. Just wear linen short sleeve shirts like they did in the old days before air conditioning and let us not waste so much state money on keeping it as cold as a medieval dungeon.

:special-flake: (i brought mittens to work last week, so snowflakes are appropriate, right?)

[Maggie Mae]

The office temperature is an on-going war in my office. The boss likes it to be 68 degrees in the summer (and we live in Phoenix, so that's really, really cold). I would prefer 76 degrees in the summer, and I need a sweatshirt at anything below that. I don't know that the boss doesn't dress for the weather though, because he does wear shorts and polo shirts all year round. Anything less than that would be unseemly (and way more skin than I'd be comfortable with).

What? You don't want your boss to come to work in only a banana hammock? :cray-cray: :dance: :wink-penguin:

I live in a different part and 76 degrees would be unbearable. However, I do remember living in another state and just being miserable all the time because of the contrasts of the hot outdoors and cold inside. It's miserable to me and I hate having to bring sweatshirts and sweaters to the movies.

[doggie]

68 is what we heat out house to in the winter. would like to go a bit higher but it gets expensive. the bedroom air conditioner is set to 72 and that is good for sleeping. anything less and you need a comforter. us spoiled Americans.

[catparty]

Oh man, if the house temp were set at 65 or so year round, I'd about die of happiness.

[Guest]

Basically, we in the US use crazy amounts of electricity because of air conditioning. Why? Because men can't be bothered to dress for the weather. I don't know why I never noticed this on my own. Either way, I thought this article was interesting. And I am an air conditioning hater, so it was relevant to my interests.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk ... ditioning/

Link not broken because Washington Post.

Well it's only acceptable when women dress for the weather when it's hot, don't ya know. Men don't have "goods" for other men to oggle.

[Geechee Girl]

It's time for seersucker to make a comeback. Thankfully that short sleeved suit pictured in the article never caught on.

[ShepherdontheRock]

Haha the other women in the office I'm working at were complaining about this today. Funnily enough, in our office, the men are ALSO cold. And many of them dress semi casually.

I've taken to wearing long sleeved dresses, and I'm thinking about bringing leg warmers in. haha.

ETA- my point is, it's not like the men can't just do pants and a nice shirt. Or if it's business casual, khakis and a polo. Not that hard.

[polecat]

Heat indices of 115 are pretty standard here in July. I'm going to keep using my AC, thanks. But seriously -- 65? That's nuts. I keep my house about 80 or so in the summer and in the mid to high 60s in the winter. We wear shorts and tees in the summer, and in the winter, I layer jeans or leggings over my ankle-to-chest compression topped with bulky sweaters. It's not hard.

[heagleca]

In my office, all the women are freezing (except for a few menopausal ones ;) ) and all the men are hot. SO the office stays at a freezing temp because Men. That's seriously what we are told. The men are hot so it stays that temp.

[47of74]

I grew up in a house that did not have air conditioning. We made do with a lot of fans in the summer time and even on days when it's in the 80s we're not that uncomfortable.

The place where I went to high school the building was designed for air conditioning but it was deleted from the design at the last minute. Except of course the administrative offices - they just had to have their AC. Because of the way the school was initially designed the windows weren't really designed to be open so it was always very warm and stuffy the first and last months of the school year. Now it's better since they did pretty extensive renovations on the school, which included putting in geothermal for the whole school.

I've worked in computer operations at a couple jobs and it was always kept fairly cool in those rooms in order to keep the equipment from overheating. I think like mid 60s. My last computer operations job was at a manufacturing plant and when we had real hot summers we'd be the only people in the plant who were cold. A couple times we had to call the AC repair people to come and adjust our ACs because it was too cold in the console room while it would be 100 degrees out on the manufacturing floor. I became a supervisor and had a room outside the computer room, I had a space heater because during the winter it'd dip into the 50s in my office.

[Maggie Mae]

I grew up with air conditioning and I hatred it. Always seemed so unnecessary. And I hate the transition from hot to cold. And the recycled air.

Now I live in a place where no one has it. It's nice. Also we don't have screens on our windows and everything seems so much nicer, and less like prison.

Of course, if I lived somewhere with actual heat for a sustained period of time, I might feel differently.

[Cartmann99]

I grew up in a house that did not have air conditioning. We made do with a lot of fans in the summer time and even on days when it's in the 80s we're not that uncomfortable.

The place where I went to high school the building was designed for air conditioning but it was deleted from the design at the last minute. Except of course the administrative offices - they just had to have their AC. Because of the way the school was initially designed the windows weren't really designed to be open so it was always very warm and stuffy the first and last months of the school year. Now it's better since they did pretty extensive renovations on the school, which included putting in geothermal for the whole school.

I've worked in computer operations at a couple jobs and it was always kept fairly cool in those rooms in order to keep the equipment from overheating. I think like mid 60s. My last computer operations job was at a manufacturing plant and when we had real hot summers we'd be the only people in the plant who were cold. A couple times we had to call the AC repair people to come and adjust our ACs because it was too cold in the console room while it would be 100 degrees out on the manufacturing floor. I became a supervisor and had a room outside the computer room, I had a space heater because during the winter it'd dip into the 50s in my office.

Our old central air conditioning died in late July. Since we had already planned to spend a pretty big chunk of money on upgrading our insulation, we opted not to fix it at this time. We did decide to buy some small used window units for the bedrooms, as we have some nights where it's 90F at midnight and I don't sleep well above 85F. We also have an elderly cat who spends most of her time in one of the bedrooms, so I need to be able to keep her room no warmer than the mid-eighties to keep her eating normally. Yes, we are spoiled Americans! :lol:

Our house is old enough that it didn't have air conditioning installed at the time it was built. Because of that, most of the windows were laid out with an eye towards ventilation. Learning when to open and close the windows, and whether the fan should be placed so it blows into the house or exhausts the warmer air, makes a big difference in comfort levels.

Since we live in a dry climate, we can also use evaporative cooling and we own two portable evaporative coolers. Even when the central a/c was working, I would usually wait till late afternoon to turn it on and just open the windows or run one of the evaporative coolers until then.

I always feel a little sad on nice days when my windows are open and I'm enjoying hearing the birds and feeling the breeze, while all of my neighbors have their windows shut and the a/c running. :|

[browncoatslytherin]

growing up in georgia, a/c was a necessity. i remember ours broke for a couple of days one summer and holy hell did it suck balls.

other places i've lived, it's not been totally necessary (like international falls, mn).

i actually don't like to turn on the a/c unless absolutely necessary. despite my killer allergies, i prefer fresh air. i get to a point, though, where i just can't take it anymore. i don't deal with heat very well. 85 makes me groan. i deal much, much better with cold (i joke that it's my viking blood :P ).

living in a second floor apartment also plays into heat and a/c usage. there were times in the winter we had to turn off the heat and crack open the windows in subzero temps because the temp had jumped to 80. our place heats up at the drop of a hat, so while we resisted using the a/c as long as possible, we had to give in. our energy bill did not appreciate it, but my asthmatic lungs thanked us. ;)

[Percy]

Growing up in southern Australia with out air conditioning was very uncomfortable and full of sleepless nights. When we got a small window unit in the living room in the 1970's we would all bunk down in there on hot nights.

After marriage and moving to a different state, the first thing we did in our new house was install air conditioning ( again only in the main living rooms). On really hot nights we still camp out in the living room to get a decent sleep.

On temperature control, my husband prefers the pool water temperature to be 26 degrees Celsius for his comfort, I find that too cold on 40 degree days and prefer the pool water to be 2-3 degrees warmer. He maintains the pool though so he generally gets his way.

[LizzieD70]

Oh man, if the house temp were set at 65 or so year round, I'd about die of happiness.

Agree! Thankfully DH and I agree on this issue. I am in DC and it isn't so much the heat but the humidity...you stand outside for 5 minutes and you are drenched!

[sawasdee]

I live in Thailand,and the temperature hovers in the high 80s to mid nineties for much of the year. Cinemas and shopping malls all have very cold A/C, to the point you need to take a shawl or wrap when visiting them.

However, many Thai homes have no A/C, just standing or ceiling fans, and schools take their long break during the hottest months, as again no A/C. Many local government offices also only have fans. A lot of restaurants and bars are open sided, so again fans. When I first lived here, I felt the heat, but in the last 10 years, as I have become acclimated, have found that I rarely if ever use A/C at home - just fans. I do, however, know many Europeans and North Americans who sleep with lots of A/C and quilts on their beds! :cray-cray:

[heagleca]

I live in south Texas and the problem around here is it is so oppressively hot outside and people overcompensate by having buildings at freezing cold temps. It's so uncomfortable to go from blazing hot to freezing cold like that. I usually have to take a sweater with me to do grocery shopping. It's so stupid to lug around sweaters when it's 100 degrees outside!

[Cartmann99]

I live in Thailand,and the temperature hovers in the high 80s to mid nineties for much of the year. Cinemas and shopping malls all have very cold A/C, to the point you need to take a shawl or wrap when visiting them.

However, many Thai homes have no A/C, just standing or ceiling fans, and schools take their long break during the hottest months, as again no A/C. Many local government offices also only have fans. A lot of restaurants and bars are open sided, so again fans. When I first lived here, I felt the heat, but in the last 10 years, as I have become acclimated, have found that I rarely if ever use A/C at home - just fans. I do, however, know many Europeans and North Americans who sleep with lots of A/C and quilts on their beds! :cray-cray:

I used to work with a woman like that. She was always complaining about how she was broke all the time. :lol: I always feel a little guilty on those nights when open windows and fans aren't cutting it, and I have to break down and turn on the A/C so we can sleep. We've been having lows in the mid 70s and low 80s this last week, so I'm very thankful that open windows and fans have been more than sufficient for us lately.

The stores here keep it too cold in summer for my tastes as well. Then, when it finally does get cold enough to wear a sweater, they have the heat turned up so high that you get all sweaty. :angry-banghead:

[47of74]

Our house is old enough that it didn't have air conditioning installed at the time it was built. Because of that, most of the windows were laid out with an eye towards ventilation. Learning when to open and close the windows, and whether the fan should be placed so it blows into the house or exhausts the warmer air, makes a big difference in comfort levels.

Since we live in a dry climate, we can also use evaporative cooling and we own two portable evaporative coolers. Even when the central a/c was working, I would usually wait till late afternoon to turn it on and just open the windows or run one of the evaporative coolers until then.

I always feel a little sad on nice days when my windows are open and I'm enjoying hearing the birds and feeling the breeze, while all of my neighbors have their windows shut and the a/c running. :|

Our house is from circa 1880. We're not exactly sure how old it is but my great-uncle once told my dad it was built about then due to the kinds of nails they used in building the house.

Dad had put in geothermal for the house that keeps it nice and cool in the house. It's still a bit warmer upstairs but much nicer than it used to be when I was growing up. I still have to put a window AC in my bedroom because of airflow issues with the system, cool air doesn't reach my room all that well.

I pulled the AC out a couple weeks ago because I didn't think I'd need it anymore this year. It had been fairly mild for most of August. Whoops, that was a mistake. It's been up in the high 80s the past couple days and is supposed to be warm again tomorrow. At least after next week it'll be seasonable again with highs in the mid 70s.

Of course in about two months 50 will be an unusually warm day where I am.

[Imagine20]

I admit that I suck up a/c when it's hot. Bit during the winter, my thermostat is set at around 60-62 and we use socks and throws (or sparingly using wood burning fireplaces if the place we live at the time has one.) I grew up in SD, in a poor family with gas heat. Heat was set high enough for the pipes not to freeze, and supplemented with electric mattress pad covers. My energy usage generally balances itself out that way.

[Cartmann99]

I admit that I suck up a/c when it's hot. Bit during the winter, my thermostat is set at around 60-62 and we use socks and throws (or sparingly using wood burning fireplaces if the place we live at the time has one.) I grew up in SD, in a poor family with gas heat. Heat was set high enough for the pipes not to freeze, and supplemented with electric mattress pad covers. My energy usage generally balances itself out that way.

I have heard good things about those electric mattress pad covers. Since heat rises, it's a smarter choice than using an electric blanket. :)

I make small pillows and fill them with deer corn for the winter. You spritz them down with water, and heat them in the microwave. If you make sure they stay under your blankets, they stay warm for quite a while. My elderly mother has a very bad back, so she uses the ones I make for her everyday as a cordless heating pad.

[47of74]

I admit that I suck up a/c when it's hot. Bit during the winter, my thermostat is set at around 60-62 and we use socks and throws (or sparingly using wood burning fireplaces if the place we live at the time has one.) I grew up in SD, in a poor family with gas heat. Heat was set high enough for the pipes not to freeze, and supplemented with electric mattress pad covers. My energy usage generally balances itself out that way.

When I was little the house would often get really cold in the wintertime. One time sticks out in my memory when it was so cold that we spent most of the evening in what was the kitchen as it was the warmest part of the house. When dad did an extensive remodel of the house back in the 80s he put new layers of insulation in and put in new windows too. Along with gutting most of the 1st floor and putting in a new kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and so on. That has helped a lot with keeping the house warm in the winter.

I have an uncle who kept his house in the mid 60s during the winter. He and my aunt would just dress warmly and use extra blankets. It was what my aunt wanted to keep it cool, I think if she wasn't comfortable he would have set it higher. Even though my aunt passed earlier this month I imagine he'll keep doing the same - I think he's used to it now.

[2xx1xy1JD]

More proof that I must really be a man and my husband must really be a woman.

He never thinks it's too hot. Meanwhile, I wilt the moment the temperate goes up. I'm quite happy in the cold, and wear my boots all day at the office.

I never noticed this as a man/woman thing. I dress fairly conservatively at work (and even more so for court - we still have to wear barrister's robes here), and find it hot in the summer. I also remember that I was always hot when I was pregnant, and my menopausal friends are constantly hot.